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Video of the Day--"You Complete Me"

In honor of the Throwback Review of Sea Swept, I thought it would be a good idea to go with an equally throwback song that could have been playing on Anna's radio, since she mentions listening to Springsteen's music several times throughout the book. Chances are she listened to this at one point as this is his only song I remember being played ad nauseum in the late 90's, usually with lines from Jerry Maguire spliced in the way radio stations did with every movie, probably starting with that one. Plus, I've always liked this one and it was more than likely the first of his songs that I knew the lyrics to and sang along with when it was on in the car.

Most readers remember their first, the first book of their particular genre that they read, whether they enjoyed the book or not. I have two firsts--the first romance I ever read was a Harlequin Intrigue written by Amanda Stevens. If you've read my blog before you probably already know this. The first historical romance I read was Mesmerized by Candace Camp, which was also the first book in her Mad Morelands series.

I was a senior in high school when this series began and I remember seeing the paperback version of Mesmerized on the shelf at the Target on Queens Blvd (yes, I spent a lot of time on Queens Blvd as a teenager), and was pulled in by the gorgeous cover. Apparently, that book has had several covers over the last 15 years, but this is the one I remember:

If you follow me on social media, you'll have seen my posts about this book over the last week. For the most part, they weren't very positive -- until about 20% into the book, I hated the hero. If I could have set him on fire, I probably would have. It was only Ms. Morgan's prose and the fact that I had been looking forward to this book for 6 months that kept me reading. For once, I am glad I was so wrong about a character.

From the PublisherOne man. One woman. Two dogs. Meet Molly—New York's most famous advice columnist, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they're other people's. Still bruised from her last breakup, Molly is in no rush to find happily-ever-after—the only love of her life is her dalmatian, Valentine. Meet Daniel—A cynical divorce …

It seems like I've been reading Karen Rose novels my entire life. I remember the day I came across Count to Ten in the Duane Reade on Queens Blvd. I'd finished the paperback I brought with me to school that day while sitting in the Dining Hall eating lunch and needed something for the long bus ride home. I almost didn't buy it because it was $9.99 and I hadn't gotten my financial aid money yet, but the cover copy called to me. Not even the 500+ page count could scare me away.

I recently learned that Edge of Darkness is Ms. Rose's 20th book and in a strange way, I feel like a proud mama watching her child cross the stage to get their diploma. I'm just a big ball of happy nostalgia, thinking back to all of the other books I've read by her and hopeful about the ones to come, so befor…

The day after Labor Day I woke up to an email from my contacts at St. Martin’s Press, inviting me to review six of their upcoming Christmas books, all of which have release dates in early October. For most people, this would probably be a problem — who wants to think about Christmas before Halloween — but for me, I’ve always had a soft spot for the man in the red suit. Even after I stopped believing in the Christ-Myth, I still loved that one holiday. To me, Christmas represents everything that Thanksgiving is supposed to be, but with better music and no obligatory turkey. Some of my favorite books have a Christmas theme and so I jumped at the chance to review those six books (well, five of them because the sixth has to do with cowboys and if there is one sub-genre I just cannot do is cowboys). I read the first two, With This Christmas Ring by Manda Collins and Deck the Halls by Donna Alward, fairly quickly, especially since they’re both novellas. Both are being released in a little o…

Disclaimer: I wrote this review as a part of a Blog Tour, but have since pulled out of it for obvious reasons. I am not editing the content of the review, so any mentions of the Blog Tour remain.

**** I want to start this review by saying that this is not the type of book I usually read and had I known this, I would not have signed up for this Blog Tour. While it does not appear as if this is being marketed as a "Christian Romance" that is exactly what this is. As a New York-born, California-living Atheist with degrees from two liberal universities, I am not exactly the target demographic for this book (or for this author, for that matter). Despite feeling duped by the marketing, I made the effort to read the entire thing. Honestly, had I stopped at any point before reaching the end,…